Friday, 15 February 2013

Floored

DH built a walk in run for me years ago. It's fantastic.

The
Cube run, which joins the side, has been extended over the years, and
then we added the chick cube, making an F shape. Tilda currently uses
the Chick's cube and run during the day, which is fine until we hatch
chicks later in the year.

Over
the years, the flooring level has gradually got lower and lower as the
various Girls have rooked and scratched and dustbathed in it, and I have
cleaned out and put in fresh Aubiose. It has now reached breaking
point - so low that I was reluctant to clean it out.

We
discussed various options - including, of course, paving it. We had
tried rubber chippings in one of the Cube runs. They were OK, but I
think are better suited to an unroofed area. We talked about getting
some of that car parking hexagonal stuff, but in the end we tried
something else.

So,
today, everything came out of the run, and DH set to work levelling it,
barrowing insoil from the rest of the garden, and then putting some
mesh on the floor, compacting as he went. A final layer of fresh soil,
more compacting... and it looks fabulous. I sprinkled some horse
bedding over it, but wasn't sure whether I was better off going gor a
little or a lot. I opted for a little, time will tell if that was the
wrong choice.